Revolving door



June 30, 1925; 1,543,703

H. W. 'DYER \REVOLVING noon Filed Jan. 14, 1924 2. sheets-sheet 1 June30, 1925. 1,543,703

H. W. DYER REVOLVING DOOR Filed Jan. 1 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patentedlane 30, 1925.

'ATENT fil lli.

HARRY W. DYER, OF NEV] YOHK, N. Y.

nisvonvrne noon.

Application filed January 14, 1924.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IIARRY WV. DYER, a citizen of the United States, andresident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements ill RevolvingDoors, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to revolving doors and particularly to doors ofthis class in which the wings may be folded together so as to obtain awide exit from public build ings. Doors of this type usually, have avertical central shaft supporting the wings whichv revolve in acylindrical opening. These wings are arranged to fold together and areheld in fixed and spaced relation by connections between the wings. Thisinvention is directly concerned with the means for holding these wingswhich maybe released between any pair of wings for folding purposes;also, which will automatically release when undue pressure is appliedagainst the wings or against the holding means itself such as mightarise in case of panic. This invention is applied to the outside of thewings without any preparation, is simple, rugged and comparativelyinexpensive.

The novel features of this invention will be better understood from thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, in which, Fig. l,is a plan View of a four wing revolving door with my invention in place,Fig. 2 is a detail of an alter native construction on the wings of thedoors, Fig. 3, is a planview of the door in the folded position, Figs. aand 5, show the construction .of the holding mechanism and itsoperation, Fig. 6 is .a sectional ,view on line 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 isa plan view and Fig. 8 is an ,elevationof the slide bar used with thisinvention and Fig. 9 shows in detail a method of attaching the ends ofthe flexible connection.

Revolving doors, according to standard practice, have a numberof wings,usually from four to eight, revolving with an axial supporting shaft ina cylindrical chamber. These wings are pivotally mounted upon aplurality of discs which are carried by the supporting shaft so that theentire door may be collapsed by folding the wings upon their pivots.againsteach other and thereby leave anopen passage through the doorway.In

' the normal position the wings must be held Serial No. 685,956.

in spaced relation and rigid relative to each other as they revolve. Forthis purpose a flexible connection is tightly drawn between the wingsand when released permits the wings to fold upon'each other.

A connection for this purpose heretofore used consists of a chain orcable secured by a universal joint to one wing of the door and by aspring latch to the opposite wing. This connection may be unlatched andreleased between any pair of wings so that all of the wings may befolded together. This construction, however leaves the unlatched end ofthe connection loose and the attaching mechanism for these connectionsmust be built into the wings of the door.

In the present invention 1. provide a fiezc ible connection between thewings of the door which, with the wings form a triangle with the base ordiagonal of the triangle opposite the centre shaft and the legs parallelwith the adjacent wings. The ends of this connection are rigidly.secured to the wings and it is tightened or slackened by a holdingdevice which slides on a bar se cured to the w 1g and which varies thelength of the legs relative to the base of the triangle. Preferably aholding device is provided on each of the opposing wings so that eachleg of the triangle may be varied to the same extent. The wings can thusbe released for folding by moving the holding devices towards the centreof the door and, conversely, are tightened by moving the holdingdevicesaway from the centre.

In a case of emergency it is desirable that the door collapse when unduepressure is applied to the wings. I provide for this condition in thepresent invention in two ways, first: The holding devices are latched inthe position which tightens the connection and this latch willautomatically release when an excessive strain is applied to it and,second; when the base of the triangular connection is deflected such aswould occur by a person leaning against it, the holding device isautomatically unlatched permitting the door to collapse. I

The corners of the triangle adjacent the base are secured by passingover a pulley on an arm which is pivoted to the holding device. Thisarin, being free to move, as sumes a position in line with the resultantof the forces acting upon the base and leg of the triangle and moves asthis resultant is changed. A lever is associated with this arm andarranged to release the latching mechanism when moved in a predetermineddirection. This direction corresponds to the direction of the resultantwhen the base of the triangle is deflected towardsthe centre of the doorso that deflecting the base will unlatch the holding devices and permitthe wings to fold. In this connection it is here pointed out that sincethe legs of the triangle are parallel with the wings, any movementtending to make the angles adjacent the base more acute will changetheresultant to release the holding device. If, therefore the angle betweenany pair of wings is increased beyond the normal position the holdingdevices will be released,

, in this relation by the flexible connections 22 and if one holdingdevice is unlatched and the angle of the wings increased the otherholding device will be automatically unlatched due to the change in theresultant forces arising from the acute angle at the base of thetriangle.

Referring to the drawings, 11 represents the vertical shaft upon whichthe door revolves, 12 represents a discrigidly supported by shaft 11upon which the wings 13, 14., 15 and 16 are pivotally secured; thesediscs are usually provided in pairs, one at the top and one at thebottoin'of shaft 11. The normal position of the wings is shown in Fig.

1, which, in a four wing door are placed atright angles to each otherand are held rigid extending between opposite wings as shown.

.A slide bar 31, hereafter more fully described, is secured to each wingas shown and retains the holding device 51 which engages the connection22 as it turns to form the legs of the triangle 21 of which 22 is thebase. It is apparent that if the holding 7 devices 51 are moved towardsthe centre shaft 11 the legs 21 will be shortened and the base of theconnection 22' will be correspondingly increased. When the base betweenany pair of wings is increased in length, these wings. may be, turned inopposite directions to collapse the door as indicated in Fig. 3. Thedoor may be restored to the normal position by opening out the wings andmoving out the holding devices 51 to tighten the connection 22.

As shown in Fig. 1, the ends of the flexible connection 21 are securedto the slide bars 31 so that each triangle is an individual unit initself. I-lowev'erythe flexible connection may be continuous betweeneach pair of triangles by using the alternative construction shown inFig. 2. 21 are looped around the pulley 25 which passes through the wing16 and is mounted upon the plunger 26 which engages the coil spring 27and thereby provides an initial tension for theconnections 21.

' The slide bar is constructed as shown in In this case the legs Figs. 7and 8. The bar 31 is provided with side grooves 36 and 37, Fig. 6, andwith stops 32 and 33 at each end. This bar 31 is secured to the wing byscrews through the openings ea so that it can be quickly attached orremoved without injuring the door. A sliding member 39 with a limitedmovement is provided at the inner end to support the hook 40 which isadjustably secured to the member 39 by screw 41 as indicated in Fig. 9.An extension i2 from 39 moves in slot 38 and engages spring43. Thisapplies an initial tension to hook 40 and to the legs; 21 which aresecured to this hook by the compression of spring 43 at the same timethe spring is concealed and does not form an obstruction on the wing ofthe door.

The holding device comprises a sliding member 51 having jaws 52 and 53which engage the grooves 36 and 37 as indicated in Fig. 6. kivoted at 5%to this member is the latch bar 55 which is engaged by the flat spring56 to hold the tooth 58 in engagement with one of the notches 35 in bar31. These notches are required only at the end of the bar as shown, theremainder of the bar is plain so that this member will slide freelyalong it. The latch bar 55 isprovided with an extension 57 as shownwhich may be used to unlatch 51 by the pressure of the fingers. Thetooth 58 has its edges inclined so that if the pressure on its becomesexcessive it will be released from the inclined notch against the actionof spring 56 and thereby unlatch 51.

' The arm 62 supporting pulley 61 is pivoted to 51 at 63. The flexibleconnections 21 and 22 in the normal position pass over the pulley asshown in Fig. 42 and the resultant forces on these connections positionarm 62 as hereafter described on the line indicated by a. Movingcooperatively with 62 is the lever arm 64 pivoted at 63 having a slot 66at its outer end. This slot engages a pin 65 projecting fromthe latchbar 55 so that when the lever 6 1 is moved to the right the latch isreleased and the sliding member 51 is free to move on theslide bar.

V The latch is shown released in Fig. 5 due to a change of the resultantacting upon arm 62. The base 22 has been deflected from the normalposition indicated by c to the position (Z; this changed the resultantfrom the normal position a to the position I) and this moves arm 64 tothe right releasing the latch asshown. In Fig. 4L it will be noted thatthe operation of the latch is not affectedwhen the resultant is normaland the slot 66 permits a free movement of the latch bar in thisposition. The position of leg 21, Fig. 1 is substantially constant andparallel to the wings and anything tending to make the angle between 21and 22 more acute than the normal angle will move lever 64 to the rightand unlatch the holding device. I

The lever 64 is preferably longer than arm 62 so that a movementsuflicient for releasing the latch will be obtained by a comparativelysmall change in resultant. The position of lever 64 relative to arm 62depends upon the construction and upon the angle between the wings. Thisrelation may be adjusted by the screw 71 as indicated in Fig. 5, the arm64 being pivoted at 63 and angularly adjusted relative to arm 62 but inFig. l, 62 andGd move integral with each other on pivot 63.

I have illustrated one embodimentot my invention but itis apparent thatthe principles herein disclosed admit of a variety of applications whichare. fully contemplated by my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: V

1. A revolving door of the class described having wings arrangedradially about an axial supporting member and an extensible flexibleconnection extending between adjacent wings and holding said wings inspaced relation and adjustably positioned means on said wings forsecuring said connection to said wings.

2. A revolving door of the class described having wings arrangedradially about an axial supporting member. a flexible connectionextending between adjacent wings and holding said wings in spacedrelation and fasteners slidably adjustable on said wings for securingsaid connection to said wings.

3. A revolving door of the class described having wings arrangedradially about an axial supporting member and a flexible connectionbetween adjacent wings holding them in spaced relation, said connectionlooped back in the plane of said wings and means adjustably positionedon said wings around which said loops are formed.

4. A revolving door of the class described having movable wings, anextensible flexible connection holding said wings in spaced re lation,said connection having its ends secured to adjacent wings, means fortightening both ends of said connection including latching devices andmeans for releasing said latching devices.

5. A revolving door of the class described having wings arrangedradially about an axial supporting member and a flexible connectionbetween adjacent wings holding them in spaced relation, said connectionlooped back in the plane of said wings, a device adjustably positionedon said wings around which said loops are formed, a latch for securingsaid device and means whereby said latch is released by pressure on saidconnection towards said supporting member.

6. A revolving door of the class described having wings arrangedradially about an axial supporting member and a flexible connectionbetween adjacent wings holding them in spaced relation, said connectionlooped back in the plane of said wings, means "for securing saidconnection to said wings and means whereby the position of said securingmeans is changed so as to lengthen said connection when said wings arespread beyond their normal position.

7. A revolving door of the class described having movable wings, aflexible connection holding said wings in spaced relation, a pivoted armsecured to each of said wings, said connection engaging said arm in twodirections so that the arm assumes a position according to the resultantof the forces on said connections and means for releasing said arm whenthe resultant is changed.

8. A revolving door of the class described having n'iovable wings, aflexible connection holding said wings in spaced relation, a pivoted armsecured to each of said wings, said connection engaging said arm in twodirections so that the arm assumes a position according to the resultantof the forces on said connections and means for releasing the tension onsaid connections when the resultant is deflected towards a wing of thedoor.

9. A revolving door of the class described having wings arrangedradially about an axial supporting member and a flexible connectionbetween adjacent wings holding them in spaced relation, the ends of saidconnection looped back in the plane of said wings, tightening means,including a pivot ed arm, adjustably secured to said wings and aroundwhich said loops are formed, the resultant forces in said connectionmoving said arm to a normal position and means whereby, when said armmoves 'l rom said normal position, said tightening means is released.

10. A revolving door of the class described having movable wings, aflexible connection holding said wings in spaced relation, a slide baron each of said wings, a holding member sliding on each of said bars andmeans whereby said holding members may be positioned to tighten orslacken said connection.

11. A revolving door of the class'described having movable wings, aflexible connection in tension holding said wings in fixed relation andhaving its ends secured to said wings, a slide bar on said wing, aholding member sliding on said bar and means whereby said connection istightened by positioning said holding member on said bar.

12. A revolving door of the class described having movable wings, aflexible connection in tension holding said wings in fixed relation,slide bars on each of said wings, members slidable on said bars fortightening said flexible connection, a latch for said members and meansfor manually releasing said latches.

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- 13.*A revolving door of the class described having movable wings, aflexible connection holding saiclaviiigs in fixed relation, slide barson each of said wings, a sliding member on said bars fortightening eachof said connections, a latch for each sliding member and means operatedby said connection for releasing sai'd'latch. l

l 4 A revolving door of the class described having movable wings, aflexible connection holding said wings in spaced relation, slide bars oneach of said wings having teeth, a. sliding member on each of said barshaving a latch engaging said teeth, said sliding member arranged toregulate the tension on said connection. 7 l

15; A revolving door of the class described having movable wings, aflexible connection holding said wings in spaced relation, slide bars oneach of said wings, a sliding member on each of said bars having alatch, said sliding member arranged to regulatethe tension on saidflexible connection and a lever for releasing said latch.

161A revolving door of the class described having movable wings, aflexible connection holding said wings in spaced relation, slide bars.on each of said Wings, a sliding member on each of said bars, having alatch, said sliding member arranged to regulate the tension on saidflexible connection and a lever operated by said connection for releasmgsaidlatch.

17. A revolving door of the class described having movable Wings, aflexible connection 18; A revolving door of the class described havingmovable Wings, a flexible connection holding said wings in spacedrelation, slide bars on each of said Wings, a sliding member on each ofsaid bars having a latch and a pivoted arm with a pulley, saidconnection passing over said pulley and arranged to release said latchwhen the resultant forces acting on said pulley are in a predetermineddirection. a V a 19. A revolving door of the class described havingmovable wings, a flexible connection holding said wings in fixedrelation, slide bars on each of said Wings, a sliding member on each ofsaid bars having a holding latch and arranged'to regulate the tension onsaid connections and a plurality of independent means forreleasing saidlatch.

20. A revolving door of the class described having radially arrangedmovable wings, an

extensible, flexible connection holding said w ngs 1n spaced relation,the ends of said connection looped back in the plane of said wings, acompression spring and the ends of said connection held taut by saidcompres sion spring.

21. A revolving door of the class described having wings arrangedradially about a verti al supporting member, a flexible connec tionholding said wings in spaced relation, the ends of said connectionlooped back in the plane of said wings, a sliding member and a springoneach of said wings, said sliding member associated with said spring andarranged to hold 'the ends of said connection taut.

vSigned at New York in the county ofNew York and State of New York, this14th day of September, A. D. 1923.

HARRY wgnvna

